Likely Stories -Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman

I love reading memoirs and one of the best I have read in years is Empty Mansions: The mysterious life of Huguette Clark and the spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman. This was a fascinating nonfiction that examined the life of Huguette Clark, one of the richest women in America who lived the last 20 years of her life in a simple hospital bed despite owning palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut.

Dedman, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist partnered with Paul Clark Newell, Huguette’s cousin for this 2013 release to examine her mysterious and unusual life. The beginning of the book explored Hughette’s early life and the making of the great American fortune.

Clark’s father, W. A. Clark was nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day. He was a controversial senator, founder of Las Vegas, and stripped much of the copper in Montana...this part of the story was as informative as it was infuriating. His home was the largest in New York City with 121 rooms for a family of four.

Slowly over the years, Huguette became more and more reclusive. She inherited a 300 million-dollar fortune and her life was touched as much by 9/11 as it was being a first class ticket holder to the maiden voyage of the Titanic.

The second part of the book focuses on the controversial spending of Huguette’s wealth and infuriating elder abuse and monetary misconduct.

Clark’s nurse received 30 million dollars in gifts and a hospital in New York kept Clark as a patient for years to rack up quite a bill. No photograph had been taken of Huguette in decades when she passed away at 104 years old in 2009 and she owed the IRS 82 million dollars in gift taxes with the bill rising 9,000 dollars a day from penalties and interest due to the mismanagement of her estate. Even with this hefty bill, Clark’s fortune stood at 308 million dollars and relatives came out of the woodwork for a slice of the fortune.

This narrative nonfiction read like a novel and is full of photographs of Huguette and her inner circle. For more information on Huguette, visit emptymansionsbook.com to see pictures of Huguette, images of the beautiful paintings she created, tour her homes and even view a canceled check made out to her nurse for five million dollars. Can you imagine receiving that check? Pick up this highly discussable deep dive into American history, mega wealth, and elder care.

Until the next episode of Likely Stories, I wish you a pile of good books and a cozy reading spot!

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